Over the course of the past five or six years, a friend and I have been slowly but surely knocking out sections of the Appalachian Trail. Our goal is to complete the entire 2,181 miles. Last week, we finally completed the “southern leg” of the Appalachian Trail which means we’ve hiked (not in order) every step of the way from Springer Mountain to Damascus, VA–some 460 miles. If we average 100 miles per year (which we have been the past four or five trips), then we’ll finish the trail when we’re close to 60 years old–a patient man’s goal, for certain.

Within the next week, I may post a more-detailed account of our latest trip, a three-day, rain-soaked journey which began at Unicoi Gap and ended 52 miles south at Springer Mountain. Until then, however, I thought I’d post a three-minute video of our trek for anyone interested. A constant cloud-like mist accompanied us almost the entire way, so we were short on breathtaking views. Even so, this may have been my favorite trip yet, as my friend and I were more efficient than ever, relying on our experience, perseverance and gear to make quick work of our aggressive goal (finished a half day early!) all while staying (relatively) dry, the latter, quite an accomplishment, indeed, given what the other hikers looked like! Here’s the video:

Two things real quick: (1) I’m a dork who likes to make movies and (2) I’m not afraid to go camping. Those facts teamed up this past weekend when I took Pook boat camping. At the ripe old age of nine, she’s already logged more nights under the stars than most adults via five different camping trips. But this was her first time boat camping.

What’s more, it was also my brother-in-law’s first time boat camping, and only his second time camping ever, the last coming when he was 16. So let’s just go ahead and call this his first time camping, shall we? Same for his 5-year-old son. Though they left camp on Saturday morning, a good friend of mine and his daughter joined us right as they were leaving, so we spent the rest of the trip hanging out with them.